A new global survey illustrates the depth of anxiety many young people are feeling about climate change:

  • Nearly 60% of young people approached said they felt very worried or extremely worried.
  • More than 45% of those questioned said feelings about the climate affected their daily lives.
  • Three-quarters of them said they thought the future was frightening.
  • Over half (56%) say they think humanity is doomed.
  • Two-thirds reported feeling sad, afraid and anxious. 
  • Four out of 10 are hesitant to have children.
  • 83% agreed that we have failed to care for the planet while 65% believe that governments are failing them young people

 

The survey across 10 countries reached to 10,000 people aged between 16 and 25.

The lead author, Caroline Hickman from Bath University, told BBC News:  This shows eco-anxiety is not just for environmental destruction alone, but inextricably linked to government inaction on climate change.  The young feel abandoned and betrayed by governments … We’re not just measuring how they feel, but what they think. … We were moved by the scale of distress”. 

Read more about the survey at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-58549373

Credits: BBC News